My essay for the Julius Mwalimu scholarship scheme

The essay answers two question why I have chosen the program and how it will contribute to the African development. Please help

IMPORTANCE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN TRANSFORMATIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TO AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT

Since the end of the colonial era, many families, communities and larger societies in African Continent have experienced numerous hardships on the pathway to economic and human development. A high level of poverty, diseases, climate change, food insecurity along with knowledge gap, have created a fertile environment for factors that have gripped Africa's development efforts.

The Masters of Science in Transformative community Development Program is a strong tool to unlocking the sustainable development of the African continent. The program engages vulnerable communities and societies to use their knowledge and capacity to cope with the challenges of climate change, food security, and nutrition.

The recurring of climate change situations such as floods, and droughts are devastating most economic, social and environmental systems in Africa. This has reduced the capacity of communities and societies in Africa to cope with shocks of climate change. The impacts of climate change on the economy and livelihood in Africa are devastating. Climate change and food insecurity have negatively impacted on sustainable development plans for the African Continent

Within the vulnerable, families and communities in the African Continent, there is rich knowledge and experience, which the program seeks to harness. So that it can be used as a solution to the communities to cope with shocks of climate change and food insecurity. Therefore, working closely with households, communities and larger society are assets in the development of policies for economic and human development.

The active participation of individuals, families, and communities at the grass root level is important for sustainable interventions in communities. Therefore, the program engages communities and societies in collaboration with the government, non-governmental organization and other development agency to effectively respond to climate change and food insecurity.

According to the United Nations, the African continent is expected to be one of the continents hardest hit by climate change, with an increase in severe droughts, floods and storms are expected to threaten the health of populations and economies alike. Climate change threatens the livelihoods of rural communities in many parts of the African continent where agriculture is mostly rain-fed and subsistence farming is the custom.

I find the program to be a great link to build strong relationships between Universities and local communities. It creates a platform to allow the voices of the most vulnerable groups to feed into the research of the students and the teaching programs of the Universities. In addition, it creates a platform for policymakers to view community resilient as an integral component to the development of the African continent.

Therefore, I find the Master of Science in Transformative community Development Program fit for my long-term career goals. I plan to work with families and communities that are trying to cope with climate change and food insecurity.

Consequently, it will build on my undergraduate qualification of Bachelor of Social Science (Social Work). The program has a familiar concept of developing and transforming communities. In addition, it will support my ambitions of working with the government or non-governmental organizations to build resilient communities that will highly contribute to the development of the African continent.

Jimmy, you just narrated the plight of Africans in your community. You did not properly represent why you chose the specific program and how it can help in African Development. This is only a 5 paragraph essay that you over extended without really responding to the required information. You need to write a totally new essay. There should only be 2 topics for discussion in it, in a straightforward manner. The first topic should be, why you chose the program. The reason for choosing the program should rely only on one specific problem in Africa that you hope to help resolve based upon your college education and the relationship of your current academic focus with the problem. As you discuss the academic focus, consider what skills and solutions you hope to develop, perhaps through the work you will be doing on your masters thesis (based upon the problem you hope to resolve). The end of the essay should justify how you see these new skills and knowledge helping to improve the plight of Africans. This essay is information specific. Your essay is not. It is not pointed towards any clear responses, goals, or solutions. Hence it cannot be used as an informative essay by the reviewer in assessing your application.

Here is the edited version of the essay:

I have chosen this program because I have a strong academic background, skills and professional experience which I feel will enable me to successfully complete my MSc of Science in transformative community development studies. My undergraduate studies in Social Science (Social Work) from the Catholic University and my professional work experience have provided me a platform to critically analyze that the lack of community involvement in dealing with issues of climate change has negatively impacted on the development efforts in the African Continent. This is directly affecting an array of dimensions such as agricultural production, livelihood patterns, the ability to secure food and the health of people.

Through my career and work experience, I have realized that the lack of community involvement in development projects, has failed to link and align with national strategies and priorities across the African Continent. Therefore the Masters of Science in Transformative Community Development at Mzuzu University provides the right blend of courses that will be of value addition to my career and advancement of my professional development.

With this background, I am motivated to advance my career by way of improving my knowledge base on community involvement in sustainable development. With poverty levels still high in most African countries, the new skills that I will acquire will be a great asset in contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal number 13 which currently is still a challenge in Africa. In addition, I am inspired to enhance my career goals to continue working with communities to unlock sustainable development for the African Continent. I have acquired techniques for both quantitative and qualitative research that are essential in monitoring and evaluating progress in the communities.

By studying Master of Science in Transformative Community Development I hope to gain a deeper understanding of how community involvement on issues of climate can positively contribute to the development in Africa. I then hope to apply such a deeper understanding of my future research, intervention design and implementation in order to contribute to building resilient communities that will effectively contribute to the development of Africa. I also want to contribute to research, practice and policy development by acquiring the necessary academic skills and approaches.

In addition, when I finish this program I am planning to utilize the skills gained by teaming up with other professionals to conduct a research on community involvement in sustainable development and provide technical support to policy developers in the public service as well as in the private sector. My main area of focus though will be the involvement of communities in climate change and its impact on Agriculture.

A blend of such knowledge is very crucial for the African continent, as many countries' economies dependent on rain-fed agriculture and climate change is already having serious effects on food crop productivity either because of drought or floods. This, in turn, has negative effects on the development of the African continent

Jimmy, overall, your essay did not come into focus until you wrote paragraphs 4-6. The first part of your essay, paragraphs 1-3 are superfluous to the discussion as you do not really discuss anything definitive regarding your reasons for choosing the course and university. You do not need to use up the full 500 word allowance if you really do not have 500 relevant words to say in the essay. You can write only 250-300 words and still have a pertinent essay to present. That is why I believe that you should simply delete the earlier paragraphs, write a new introductory paragraph regarding Sustainable Development Goal Number 13 and how it relates to the present problems of Africa, what the goal hopes to achieve, and how your current profession relates to this mission. Explain why you feel inadequate in terms of skills and knowledge with regards to your active participation in achieving the goals of that particular program. Use paragraphs 4-6 to fill in the 2 questions you were asked in the essay. That should make the essay clearer and more relevant in terms of response to the prompt questions.